Nick Clegg today launches an attack on the Labour and Tory leaderships for
trying to “sweep under the carpet” the need for change in the wake of the
MPs’ expenses scandal.

The Liberal Democrat leader says that the scandal cannot be allowed to fade away.

Instead he calls for the introduction of a new rent-only system to apply to second homes. It would end the “spivvy” practice of "flipping" by MPs who consider themselves property speculators, he writes in an article for the Telegraph.

Today he will take his message to St Albans where the sitting Conservative MP has survived being deselected over her expense claims. The Daily Telegraph disclosed that Anne Main claimed for a second home in which her daughter lived rent-free.

He said: “We can’t let this scandal fade away: it must have consequences for the way our political system works. I’ll be putting forward my ideas for political change to make sure the kind of corruption the Telegraph exposed is never again given fertile ground in which to grow.”

Mr Clegg also fears that damage is being done to the image of MPs by those who have been caught abusing the system being allowed to still serve as an MP until the next election when they will receive generous tax-free severance packages.

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“We need to make sure that MPs are held to account for any wrongdoing. Gordon Brown and David Cameron pledged their support for my plan to give people the right to sack their MP if it is proved they have done something seriously wrong.

“I’m going to hold them to this pledge this autumn by tabling a bill in Parliament to do just that and asking them to support it.”

Voters would be given the power to recall their MPs under the plans if they had been found to have abused the system

Mr Clegg also calls for the number of MPs at Westminster to be cut by 150.

On the issue of second home allowance the Liberal Democrat is in favour of following the Scottish parliament’s system where only rent can be claimed. He said it should be introduced for all new MPs after the election with a transitional period for the rest.

Sir Christopher Kelly, the chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, will report back with his recommendations on the future of the expenses system later this year.